Islam in Africa

Catalog description

Africa is the only continent with a Muslim majority, with more than a quarter of the worlds Muslims living there. Americans tend to associate Islam with Arabs, but Africans greatly outnumber Arabs in the religion. There are more Muslims in Nigeria than in Egypt, more in Ethiopia than Iraq. 1/6th of the worlds Muslims reside in sub-Saharan Africa. How did this come to be? How has the adoption of Islam by Africans shaped their history? And, conversely, how have Africans shaped Islam? We answer these questions by exploring 14 centuries of Islamic African history. We also explore Islam as a system of religious meaning by studying the teachings and writings of African Muslims.